My journal of big words and pretty pictures
As soon as the front door shut behind them, clothes started dropping. Shoes were kicked down the hallway, pants and shirts fell outside the kitchen, a bra was flung overhead and landed on the ceiling fan blades, boxers draped over the side table lamp cast a blue aura over the room. He fell backwards over … Continue reading A place of his own
Gripping her phone with both hands, the best Pauley could do was strangle Butch in effigy. Smacking the screen against her open palm, she lamented the lack of a landline handset that she could slam down with righteous indignation. She stood in the bathroom doorway, feet shoulder-width apart, one foot in front of the other. … Continue reading Clothes make the woman
After a long day at work, the last thing he wanted to do was carry out half a dozen bags of trash. "What's all this," he demanded, toeing one of the open, white plastic bundles. The teen-aged boy sitting at the kitchen table, languidly looked up from his homework. Tugging his headphones off, he looked … Continue reading Life is over as we know it
Two women, dressed in colorful surgery scrubs, lingered at the nurses' desk sorting through resident files to leave evening reports for the attending physicians. "How was she tonight?" With a nod of her head, the younger of the two indicated the occupant of Room 24, one of their Alzheimer patients. Most days she thought she was … Continue reading But no one’s home
"You've gotta put that back. If your uncle finds us in here, there'll be real fireworks." "Fireworks? Where do you get stuff like that? Butch is not gonna know if you don't tell him." Pauley held the gun in her right hand, her left cupped under the grip like she had seen her guardian do … Continue reading Fireworks
Standing in the surf, searching the horizon for familiar sails, I wrap his old black seal coat tight around my shoulders. Sheets of rain and driving wind whip my hair from my scarf, stinging my eyes. Salt from the sea mix with my tears. Waves lash my legs, and wash the sand from beneath me. … Continue reading Roar of the ocean
Thin spiral notebook 